Over 5,500 still missing in flood-hit east Congo: local official

FILE PHOTO: Congolese civilians gather after the death of their family members following rains that destroyed buildings and forced aid workers to gather mud-clad corpses into piles in the village of Nyamukubi, Kalehe territory in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo May 6, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

KALEHE, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - More than 5,500 people are still unaccounted for in an area in east Democratic of Congo where floods killed more than 400 people last week, a local official said on Tuesday, as shaken survivors waited for food aid.

Scores of bodies have been recovered from the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in South Kivu province's Kalehe territory since torrential rain caused landslides and flash floods on Thursday, flattening buildings and sweeping away crops.